AFC blasts “unreliable”Essequibo ferry service
September 1, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Source - Kaieteur News
The ferry service between Parika and Supenaam has come under fire from the AFC
The Alliance For Change (AFC) has accused government of stymieing the development of Region Two, Essequibo Coast, by allowing crucial river maintenance work to slip overtime.
“The ferry service between Parika and Supenaam has now evolved into an irregular and unreliable mode of transport and is harmful to trade and the development of Region 2,” the party stressed at a press conference yesterday.
“Over nearly a decade now, the residents of the Essequibo Coast have been subjected to a very irregular and unreliable ferry service between the Adventure but now Supenaam and Parika Stellings,” said AFC’s Region Two representative, Archie Cordis.
“Because the practice of dredging the Essequibo channel was discontinued in this time, there has been the formation of obstructing sandbanks in the areas between Hogg Island and Wakenaam. This has to be seen as an abysmal failure of the Ministry of Works and Hydraulics.
The AFC understands that the M.V. Steve. N which previously did dredging in the Essequibo channel many years ago is currently moored at the Transport and Harbours Department in Georgetown and has been out of operation for the longest while.”
The opposition party noted that the PPP’s Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar, told residents at one of his recent stops on the coast that approximately $170 million has been budgeted for capital works in Essequibo for 2011.
“The Chronicle, in typical propaganda fashion, when it reported this statement of Ramotar, printed that section in bold. However, Ramotar neglected to mention why the Essequibo channel has not been dredged for nearly a decade.”
The party, at its Campbellville offices, explained that the dredging of the Essequibo channel was a regular and routine practice many years ago intended to further speed up the transportation schedule between the Essequibo Coast and Parika.
“Because of such regular dredging, the T&HD was able to maintain a regular schedule for the operation of the ferry service. All of this has broken down as a result of the PPP’s gross incompetence. Because of the sand banks in the Essequibo channel, the ferry service plying the Supenaam to Parika route has been limited to one trip per day. The removal of the sandbanks would enable at least two trips per day.”
The AFC claimed that because the service is at the vagaries of the tide, many times commuters are forced to wait at the stellings for hours before they can travel.
“It has to be pointed out very clearly here that the majority of commuters using this service are primarily poor people, unable to pay on a regular basis the $1300 charged by the speed boat service. The ferry service is the sole mode of transport for vehicular traffic between the Essequibo Coast and Parika. This fact alone underscores the difficulty and inconvenience experienced by drivers who cross this channel on a regular basis.
The AFC calls on Minister Benn under whose responsibility the issue falls, to expedite the dredging of the Essequibo Channel,” Cordis asserted.
“It is a real shame that such practice which had become an entrenched routine infrastructural work has halted completely causing much hardship and inconvenience to the residents of Region 2.”
September 1, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Source - Kaieteur News
The ferry service between Parika and Supenaam has come under fire from the AFCThe Alliance For Change (AFC) has accused government of stymieing the development of Region Two, Essequibo Coast, by allowing crucial river maintenance work to slip overtime.
“The ferry service between Parika and Supenaam has now evolved into an irregular and unreliable mode of transport and is harmful to trade and the development of Region 2,” the party stressed at a press conference yesterday.
“Over nearly a decade now, the residents of the Essequibo Coast have been subjected to a very irregular and unreliable ferry service between the Adventure but now Supenaam and Parika Stellings,” said AFC’s Region Two representative, Archie Cordis.
“Because the practice of dredging the Essequibo channel was discontinued in this time, there has been the formation of obstructing sandbanks in the areas between Hogg Island and Wakenaam. This has to be seen as an abysmal failure of the Ministry of Works and Hydraulics.
The AFC understands that the M.V. Steve. N which previously did dredging in the Essequibo channel many years ago is currently moored at the Transport and Harbours Department in Georgetown and has been out of operation for the longest while.”
The opposition party noted that the PPP’s Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar, told residents at one of his recent stops on the coast that approximately $170 million has been budgeted for capital works in Essequibo for 2011.
“The Chronicle, in typical propaganda fashion, when it reported this statement of Ramotar, printed that section in bold. However, Ramotar neglected to mention why the Essequibo channel has not been dredged for nearly a decade.”
The party, at its Campbellville offices, explained that the dredging of the Essequibo channel was a regular and routine practice many years ago intended to further speed up the transportation schedule between the Essequibo Coast and Parika.
“Because of such regular dredging, the T&HD was able to maintain a regular schedule for the operation of the ferry service. All of this has broken down as a result of the PPP’s gross incompetence. Because of the sand banks in the Essequibo channel, the ferry service plying the Supenaam to Parika route has been limited to one trip per day. The removal of the sandbanks would enable at least two trips per day.”
The AFC claimed that because the service is at the vagaries of the tide, many times commuters are forced to wait at the stellings for hours before they can travel.
“It has to be pointed out very clearly here that the majority of commuters using this service are primarily poor people, unable to pay on a regular basis the $1300 charged by the speed boat service. The ferry service is the sole mode of transport for vehicular traffic between the Essequibo Coast and Parika. This fact alone underscores the difficulty and inconvenience experienced by drivers who cross this channel on a regular basis.
The AFC calls on Minister Benn under whose responsibility the issue falls, to expedite the dredging of the Essequibo Channel,” Cordis asserted.
“It is a real shame that such practice which had become an entrenched routine infrastructural work has halted completely causing much hardship and inconvenience to the residents of Region 2.”